Metro
Working It
Hundreds gather for ParnasaFest with the hope of finding jobs.
Among job seekers and hosts are Linda Palmer of Farmington Hills, Susan Sadley of
Bloomfield Hills, Inez Garfield of Farmington Hills and Nancy Lipson of Orchard Lake.
Robin Schwartz
Special to the Jewish News
S
he graduated from Michigan
State University with a degree
in international relations and
the dream of becoming a United States
diplomat but, for now, Ariana Segal, 23, of
West Bloomfield is among the ranks of the
unemployed.
The former assistant director of the
Michigan Region of the Anti-Defamation
League, like so many others, is a victim
of the state's struggling economy. She was
laid off during a recent round of cutbacks
at the ADL, losing her first full-time job as
a college graduate.
"My job at the ADL was great; it was
such good work experience said Segal.
She speci2lized in Muslim and Jewish
studies at MSU.
"I'm looking for a new job with a nonprof-
it organization or a governmental position. I
may eventually have to leave Michigan to get
the experience I need',' she said.
Segal was among 200 job seekers who
gathered March 30 at the Shul in West
Bloomfield for ParnasaFest, an interna-
tional grassroots effort to provide net-
working and job assistance for members
of the Jewish and greater communities.
Parnasa is the Hebrew word for livelihood.
"It was open networking; we really
didn't want to make it like a job fair:' said
Benji Rosenzweig, 26, of West Bloomfield,
one of the organizers. "We wanted to
Al2
April 16 ® 2009
encourage people to talk and meet
because people can sometimes point each
other in the right direction!'
The evening included a lot of mingling,
shmoozing and exchanging contact infor-
mation, light refreshments and a raffle.
Local representatives from JVS, Jewish
Family Service, the Michigan Jewish
Institute, the Birmingham-Bloomfield
Chamber of Commerce, the Shul and
Federation were on hand to answer ques-
tions and provide information.
Terry Bean, founder of Networked Inc.,
a company that offers networking training
to sales teams, groups and professionals,
and creator of motorcityconnect.com , an
online networking group, addressed the
crowd.
"People have to realize that network-
ing is a give-and-get thing:' said Bean, a
Commerce resident. "As job seekers, people
tend to forget about the giving because
they're so focused on the getting."
Dozens of similar ParnasaFest events
have taken place across the globe, from New
York, Atlanta and Chicago to Jerusalem and
London. The idea started among members
of the Orthodox community in response to
layoffs in the Jewish nonprofit world that
resulted from the Bernard Madoff scandal.
Madoff pled guilty to 11 felonies, including
securities fraud, admitting he defrauded
clients out of nearly $65 billion. His victims
included Yeshiva University in New York
and a number of Jewish charitable organi-
zations.
Gary Breuer of Farmington Hills, Howard Rosenberg of West Bloomfield and David Moss
of Huntington Woods were some of the job seekers and representatives attending.
"Yeshiva University laid off 125 people
said Rosenzweig, who grew up in New York
City. "A lot of my friends lost their jobs!'
Rosenzweig knows David Weinberg,
who started ParnasaFest in New York. He
says Weinberg encouraged him to plan the
Detroit event.
"At first, this was all an effort to help
our friends who had lost jobs:' Rosenzweig
explained. "It just sort of mushroomed
from there!'
The first gathering at the Shul went so
well, organizers are already planning a
second local event for May. Ariana Segal
hopes to have a new job
by then. She says she
made a few good con-
nections and even met
one participant who
promised to forward her
resume to a lobbiest in
Washington, D.C.
"I consider myself
lucky because I'm
right out of school and
I'm still young:' Segal
Terry Bean
said. "Many people at
shares
tips.
ParnasaFest were older
and have families. I
think things will turn around. I don't
know whether it will be sooner or later,
but I hope sooner'
❑
For information about ParnasaFest,
go to www.parnasafest.org .
Networking Tips
For Job Seekers
• Be clear on the position you want.
• Networking is as much about the
other person as it is about you.
• Regardless of your employment
situation, you have value to offer.
• Start with what you can do for
them; let others ask what they can
do for you.
• Use the online tools like
Linkedin, Facebook and
Twitter that are there to
help you.
• You need to leverage the
relationships you have to
create the relationships
you need.
• Now is the time when
you really need to be okay
asking for help.
• Have an electronic copy
of your resume at the
ready.
• Build your network before you
need your network.
• Have a support group with whom
you can share.
• Remember to say, "Thank you."
— Terry Bean